ART 382 - Belle Ribicoff Seminar

Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)

Topic for 2023/24b: Artists’ Homes and Landscapes in the Hudson Valley. This six-week seminar explores 200 years of artists’ engagement with the environment of the Hudson Valley and the central role that artists, architects, and designers based in the region have played and continue to play in shaping our understanding of human impact on the natural world. The course will consist of in-depth visits to five artists’ homes and working environments, from Thomas Cole and Frederic Church to Russel and Mary Wright and contemporary artists, such as Stephen Holl and Portia Munson. With its scenic beauty and ease of communication with New York City, the center of patronage and status for American art and design, the Hudson Valley has drawn artists to make their homes here throughout our history. In doing so, they have been shaped by and, in turn, shaped the environment, creating homes and studios that embrace the natural world and serve as immersive, experiential artworks. In preparatory readings and first-hand explorations of these places, students will examine how artists have placed the tension between Picturesque aesthetics and capitalist realities at the center stage of our national identity.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Chair of the Art Department.

Second six-week course.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: INT